The Digital (R)evolution of Theatre

 by Mackenzie Gilmore 

Our world has been changing rapidly from the last century into this one, bringing a growing number of technological advances which may threaten the dominance of theatre as a form of entertainment.  With streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix at the fingertips of new and emerging audiences, how can theatres and theatrical productions encourage younger generations that there is value, pleasure and enjoyment in going to the theatre, that it is still relevant amidst the digital throng? I’d like to share some thoughts I have on this, being part of this new, digital generation o the one hand, as well as having found a love for theatre at an early age.   

My recent reflections have coalesced around two main factors - the show’s social media presence, and the ticket prices. The former can be considered as a prevalent and effective form of modern advertising – I myself have found out about a few choice productions through social media, perhaps most recently Newsie’s, which played at the less well-known Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.  A tube journey away from the powerful and compelling visual marketing of London’s West End. It feels like ticket prices matter too, because the lower the price the more likely someone who may not be a regular theatre goer will risk abandoning their streaming platform for an evening and buy a ticket. 

Curious as I was, I wanted to explore these reflections with some professionals, who I felt would bring a different perspective. I spoke with members of the marketing team, including the Head of Marketing, at Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal about how they attempt to bring in younger audiences. They found that, with the emergence of Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or Tik Tok, young people respond better to short video clips compared to longer ones. This leads to theatres having to streamline their content to fit a shorter timeframe as opposed to longer promotional videos previously employed. Tik Tok and Instagram are the sites where their engagement metrics are weighted towards 18-30 year olds, whereas Facebook is more for people aged 40 plus. For younger audiences, silly stunts or funny videos including members of the production often perform better than serious videos, which are favoured by more ‘traditional’ theatre goers. One of the most interesting things I learnt from talking to the experts at the New Theatre Royal is that it really matters which social media you use depending on who you want to appeal to the most, you can’t just use ‘social media’ as a blanket term.

Thinking more about this after my time at the New Theatre Royal, reminded me of a production that I had witnessed – from afar unfortunately – using social media to its advantage, a Broadway show called Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice closed on January 8th 2023, to embark on a national US tour, but it became well known for its antics on social media and its usual success as a contemporary musical. The musical was originally something of a flop, as the ‘normal’ Broadway theatre-goers didn’t seem to take to it at all. Influential reviewers such as the New York Times slammed it, saying it was ‘exhausting’ and that ‘the music mostly existed in a loud, undifferentiated blur’. However, more niche reviewers who appealed to a younger generation were big fans of the show, but they were, for now, drowned out by the bigger, more traditional voices.  Then, the understudy for Lydia (the female lead), Presley Ryan, started making videos on Tik Tok promoting the show by showing backstage moments and rehearsals.  Soon most of the cast got involved, and when the senior producers of the show saw what was happening, they got on board and made an official Beetlejuice Tik Tok account. 

Fast forward to today and the key word ‘Beetlejuice’ has over 4.6 billion views on Tik Tok, and the hashtag #BeetlejuiceMusical has been used more than 43.6 million times in Tik Tok videos.  These are impressive figures, I think you’ll agree.  The show especially appealed to younger audiences, because of its steampunk texture and creative style of engagement. After the pandemic, 55% of people who bought tickets through digital booking platform Telecharge had never purchased a Broadway ticket before, and 80% are between the ages of 19 and 54, well above the 49% benchmark of most Broadway shows for this age bracket. Regarding ticket prices, Beetlejuice also took a chance, and it paid off.  The average Broadway ticket price is usually around $122 (in London’s West End the average is £52).  Beetlejuice lowered its price to a minimum of $69 which encouraged, and in some cases enabled, younger people with less disposable income and less traditional interest in this medium, to take a risk and see what all the hype was about. When it closed earlier this year, it did so as one of the top grossing productions on Broadway. I think someone among the Beetlejuice Executive team owes Ms Ryan a celebratory drink, don’t you? 

There are diverse opinions amongst people in show business on all of this. Eddie Perfect, the composer for Beetlejuice, seems to somewhat reluctantly agree with the power of social media when he says, ‘I imagine that Broadway shows will now have incredibly annoying mandatory social media experts advising them on how to inject their shows into Tik Tok.’ The marketing experts at the New Theatre Royal also agree and are aiming their marketing efforts more at younger people, as they already have a dedicated set of audience members over the age of 40 or so – their existing marketing mailing list has around 43,000 people on it, the majority being experienced, older theatre goers. It is a balance though, and for some companies their main demographic is still older people, to whom they continue to market, perhaps favouring short term profit over long term audience development and the future gains from that. The Shubert Organization seems to be one such company, supported by their decision to close Beetlejuice’s run at the Winter Garden theatre on Broadway in favour of “The Music Man”, touted to make $156,000,000, compared to Beetlejuice making around $100,000,000. I can’t help thinking that Beetlejuice as a brand will likely be more profitable long term due to the popularity and interest shown in it by people who are younger, the audience of the future perhaps? 

It may not surprise you to hear that I believe appealing to younger generations (30 and under) are pivotal to the future of the theatre industry, and after exploring the example of Beetlejuice and talking to marketers from the New Theatre Royal, just reinforces this for me. Stereotypically, a majority of people who currently go to the larger theatre shows such as Les Miserable or Phantom of the Opera are 40 or older, but I believe the success of these West End stalwarts isn’t sustainable, and the productions that are marketed to the younger generations will continue to succeed. They can do this by producing shorter promotional material to suit platforms that are popular today, by using the right form of social media, and even by lowering their ticket prices.  See you in the cheap seats.